ELECTION 2012: DPP outlines Tsai Ing-wen’s game plan for debates

Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is expected to be her usual self by emphasizing her policies in three presidential debates, the first of which is tomorrow, the party said yesterday.

The DPP chairperson has been taking breaks from her campaign work to prepare for the nationally televised debates, in which she will face off against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who is seeking re-election, and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) on three consecutive Saturdays this month.

Tsai will focus on her policies and defend against expected criticism of her vision, while attacking her opponents will be the last priority in the debates, DPP spokesperson Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.

The campaign office has conducted a series of simulated debates in the past two weeks when Tsai was off the campaign trail, he added.

A group of advisers who had participated in the formulation of Tsai’s 10-year policy guideline have been helping Tsai with debate preparations, Chen Chi-mai said. Among them were Chang Ching-sen (張景森), former vice chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD), former CEPD chairman Chen Po-chih (陳博志) and Liu Chin-hsin (劉進興), a retired professor at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, and campaign aides.

Campaign aides also prepared questions that Ma and Soong are expected to ask in the debates for Tsai to answer in the simulations, he said.

“Ma will be Tsai’s primary target, of course. Chairperson Tsai is expected to focus on Ma’s performance in the past three-and-a-half years and what he said in the 2008 presidential debates,” Chen Chi-mai said.

However, Tsai will not change the way she speaks or her clothing style during the debates simply to cater to TV audiences, he added.

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